A fast-moving comedy/drama about two brothers putting on a play about two brothers putting on a play about America. As the play within a play within a play peels away like an onion, the brothers burrow deeper into their own dysfunction, wrestling with what it means to be a family and, by extension, what it means to be American.
Right off the top, we learn that one brother (a playwright) has possibly ruined the evening by not writing the play the audience has come here to see. Luckily, though, the other brother (an actor) has found a new one for them to perform. As it turns out this new play is about this exact situation. Every time they attempt to perform it, though, their animosity gets the better of them and they are forced to start over. Of course, this, too, is part of the plot of the found play, begging the question: Do they really resent each other or are they just playing the parts they’ve been assigned? As they continue to vie for the audience’s sympathies, the rift between them grows ever wider as grievances about politics mask more personal vendettas. Can they ever come to an end if they can’t get past the beginning? This is a story about family. This is a story about America.
